Profile: Zach Putnam saved six games in 2014, which tells you just how desperate the White Sox were to find someone who could get outs late in the game. His numbers actually weren’t all that bad. And though the 1.98 ERA is sure to rise -- he had good luck on batted balls as well as home runs per fly ball -- he has established himself as a solid part of the team’s bullpen moving forward. With the addition of David Robertson this offseason, Putnam isn’t going to get many save chances. He strikeout and walk rates are just so-so, but his role could put in line for a few holds. (Chris Cwik)

The Quick Opinion: Putnam had a surprisingly effective year for the White Sox, but is, at best, the third right-handed option in the pen now. He doesn’t have a huge upside, but should scrape together some holds.

Profile: Putnam's move to the north side paid off well in 2014, but his production took a significant step back a year later. The former journeyman remained a decent back end arm but had almost as many meltdowns as shutdowns and ultimately wound up deployed in much lower leverage situations. It's troubling, and the huge spike in home run rate, accompanied by an uptick in fly balls and hard hit balls, was made worse by his walk rate hitting 11.3%. And yet still, there's intrigue here, as Putnam pushed his swinging strike rate to 16.9% and his strikeout rate to a tidy 30.2%. Putnam has an entirely unique pitch mix, and if he could leverage his splitter heavy approach for more ground balls, he might be better off. As it stands, he uses that splitter to generate whiffs more than almost any other splitter, and his four-seamer and cutter are too middling to use the splitter as a setup. Even in his current form, Putnam's a fine back end guy. A return to his 50%-plus ground ball rate would put him in line for save chances if David Robertson struggled. (Blake Murphy)

The Quick Opinion: After taking a step back following a breakout 2014, Putnam enters the season as the White Sox' likely seventh inning righty. If he can get some additional ground balls with his swing and miss splitter, he could push his way into the mix for higher leverage appearances.

Profile: Putnam was one of the best things going in the White Sox bullpen before needing season-ending surgery on his elbow in early August. Ultimately, Putnam threw just 27.1 innings but fanned more than a batter per inning and kept his walks relatively in check, as he finally synced up his previous two seasons in which he'd had one great strikeout rate and one good walk rate, but neither in the same campaign. If healthy, Putnam will be interesting in the back of a bullpen that may not have David Robertson if the team completes the teardown over the offseason. He could still stand to add some grounders back to his profile — he induced a career-low 40.3% rate in 2016 — but ultimately he has the look of a solid back-end reliever if everything comes together for him. What he lacks in velocity (90.6 mph average fastball) he makes up for by relying heavily on a split-finger which induced a 23.1% whiff rate and an OPS against of just .553. He may be behind Nate Jones in the bullpen hierarchy on the South Side, but he's a really, really interesting arm. (@Brandon_Warne)

The Quick Opinion: There's deep closer sleeper potential here and potential utility in holds leagues. Unfortunately, neither of those are that appealing if the White Sox aren't going to be good - which appears to be the case.

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